Update 05/26
Surgery went well yesterday. Surgeon was able to close the hole in Olivia's heart, and her heart is beating well on its own. We are in the ICU until Monday, and the hospital until Thursday or Friday. Will post more when I have a chance and when I have access to a real computer.
Thanks for the support everyone.
Excellent news. How long was the surgery?
Glad to hear your daughter is doing well.Update 5/27
2 days post op, and everything is looking pretty good. Olivia is still in the pediatric cardiac ICU at Boston Children's, but she is progressing normally. Her heart is beating well, and tubes/monitors are slowly but surely being removed. Yesterday the arterial line and chest tubes came out, leving only a few IV's, an NG (feeding) tube, and ventilator tube. We were hopeful that the ventilator tube would come out this morning, but there is so much fluid in Olivia's lungs (normal side effect from the heart lung machine) that the attending physician has decided to leave it for a while longer. Maybe it will come out tomorrow. That would be wonderful, as the vent tube is the last thing preventing us from picking her up.
Totally agree with you about one's perspective changing by a trip through a pediatric hospital, and particularly Boston's Childrens Hospital. I've never forgotten my first trip there as a young child, it changed my outlook on life. After seeing some of the other sick children there, and especially the babies, I never complained again about what I was there for, realized so many kids were so much sicker, were dealing with much more serious challenges. I'll never forget some of those kids' eyes, they haunt me still.Also, I firmly believe that anyone and everyone should at some point take a tour of a pediatric ICU at some point in their lives. Words cannot express the perspective it brings. My wife and I thought we had it tough when we came in. But there are parents and children who are FAR, FAR worse off than we are. At least Olivia had a fixable defect. Some poor kids in the ICU are struggling every hour to stay alive. A couple across the hall from us lost their 2 week old son yesterday, and it was the saddest thing I have ever seen in my life. Makes me want to quit my job and do nothing but try and raise money for this heroic hospital. No one and I mean no one should be denied access to the care that is available here.
Ultimately, life wasn't meant to be fair. Sometimes you can unwaveringly give your absolute best and get nothing but the absolute worst in return. The only way to mitigate the damage is belief in something (anything) and having good family and friends surrounding you.
Good luck to your daughter and family. I'm sending out a prayer to the God of your choosing.
Sounds like everything is headed in a positive direction. When do you plan on taking her home?
Glad things are progressing. When will the feeding tube come out?